"A vivid, moving and sometimes funny account of the reality of life during Russia's invasion," Marc Bennetts, The Times "Uplifting and utterly defiant," Matt Nixson, Daily Express "No-one with the slightest interest in this war, or the nation on which it is being waged, should fail to read Andrey Kurkov," Dominic Lawson, Daily Mail "For centuries, attempts have been made to force Ukrainians to forget their native language, to stop singing Ukrainian songs and to abandon their history. For almost 400 years, Russia has been fighting against Ukrainian identity." Ten years on from the annexation of Crimea, two years on from Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people continue to fight back. In the second volume of his war diaries, Andrey Kurkov gives a fresh perspective on a people for whom resistance and solidarity have become a matter of survival. Our Daily War is a chronological record of the heterogeneous mix that comprises Ukrainian life and thought in the teeth of Russian aggression, from the constant stress of air raids, the deportation of citizens from the occupied regions and the whispers of governmental corruption to Christmas celebrations, crowdfunding and the recipe for a "trench candle". Kurkov's human's-eye view on the war in Ukraine is by turns bitingly satirical, tragic, humorous and heartfelt. It is also, in the manner of Pepys, an invaluable insight into the history, politics and culture of Ukraine. Our Daily War is the ideal primer for anyone who would like to know what life is like in that country today. "Andrey Kurkov [is] one of the most articulate ambassadors to the West for the situation in his homeland," Sam Leith, Spectator "Immediate and important … From the grim incredulity at Russians massing on the border to the displacement of millions of people, this is an insider's account of how an ordinary life became extraordinary. It is also about survival, hope and humanity," Helen Davies, The Times "Ukraine's greatest novelist is fighting for his country," Giles Harvey, New York Times "The author's on-the-ground account is packed with surprising details about the human effects of the Russian assault ... His voice is genial but also impassioned, never more so than when deploring Putin's efforts to erase Ukrainian culture and history. Ukraine, he says, "will either be free, independent and European, or it will not exist at all". That's why the war has to be fought, with no concession of territory. And he remains quietly hopeful that it will be won," Blake Morrison, Guardian

A thriller of love and revenge, and an imaginative literary obituary for Kafka, bringing the Cold War to life, from Paris and Istanbul to West Berlin and Tel Aviv. "Did Max Brod commit a crime by not fulfilling Kafka's last will – to burn all his works? Burhan Sönmez is not a judge. He is only a scribe at the Last Judgment, recording the speeches of the parties. And he does his job brilliantly" Mikhail Shishkin "The kind of book that will enthral a student and intrigue an Oxford don, thrill a worker on the factory floor and captivate a lifelong reader of Kafka" Lemn Sissay "A gripping tale of idealism colliding with history and moral uncertainty" Ava Homa, author of Daughters of Smoke and Fire –––––––––––– West Berlin, 1968. As a youth uprising sweeps over Europe in the shadow of the Cold War, two men face each other across an interrogation table. One, Ferdy Kaplan, has shot and killed a student. Kommissar Müller, the other is trying to find out why. As his interrogation progresses, Kaplan's background is revealed piece by piece, including the love story between him and his childhood friend Amalya, their shared passion for Kafka, and the radical youth movement they joined. When it transpires that Kaplan's intended target was not the student but Max Brod, Franz Kafka's close friend and the executor of his literary estate, the interrogation of a murderer slowly transforms into a dialogue between a passionate admirer of Kafka's work, who is attempting to protect the author's final wish to have his manuscripts burned, and a police commissioner who is learning more about literature than he ever thought possible from a prisoner in his custody. In this gripping, thought-provoking tribute to Kafka, Burhan Sönmez vividly recreates a key period of history in the 1960s, when the Berlin Wall divided Europe. More than a typical mystery, Lovers of Franz K. is an exploration of the value of books, and the issues of anti-Semitism, immigration, and violence that recur in Kafka's life and writings. –––––––––––– Praise for Burhan Sönmez "A writer of passion, memory and heart" Elif Shafak "His novels delve into imprisonment and memory, with echoes of Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Jorge Luis Borges" Jason Farago, New York Times "One of the most exciting, innovative voices in Turkish and Kurdish literature today" Peter Dziedzic, Harvard Review